Jinxed
"Jinxed" was the fourth episode of TUGS. Plot One night at sea, Ten Cents and Sunshine find a mysterious tug named Boomer (voiced by Lee Cornes). He isn’t moving, and has apparently broken down. He declines their offer of help, explaining that he is a “jinx” and wants nothing to do with anyone, because he will bring them bad luck. The tug explains that his original name was "Captain Harry", and that the supposed jinx began when a new owner renamed him Boomer and painted over his original name. Events tend to confirm the story of a jinx. First Ten Cent’s tow rope, which he attaches to Boomer, falls into the sea. Then, when the tugs bring Boomer to Captain Star and he is restoked and restarted, his engine blows. Captain Star orders Ten Cents and Sunshine to pull Boomer clear As soon as he is clear, his engine strangely stops smoking. After this, Captain Star's megaphone falls out of the window. Captain Star obviously realises that Boomer may be a jinx, as this has never happened before- he tells the tugs to take Boomer to Lucky’s Yard. On the way there, Boomer suddenly starts taking on water. He is quite happy as he sinks lower and lower- he has always wanted to sink, because he won't jinx anyone. But he comes to rest on a sunken garbage barge. Ten Cents fetches a rescue crane, Mighty Moe, who tries to lift Boomer, but seizes up as soon as he is out of the water. They somehow manage to get to Lucky's Yard, but suddenly the lights go out, and the Tugs are nearly damaged. Boomer is repaired, and begins working for the Z Stacks on the munitions contract. As he passes Zip, Zug and Boomer, who are hauling a barge of explosives, Ten Cents toots good luck to Boomer on his hooter and the explosives immediately detonate. Captain Zero is a less patient man than Captain Star, and he instantly gets rid of Boomer. Captain Star decides to give him another try, using him only on very simple jobs, where nothing can go wrong- or so he thinks. As Ten Cents also hooted as Boomer was being lifted out of the water by Mighty Moe, Sunshine theorizes that Ten Cents' hooter may somehow be causing the jinx. Ten Cents thinks this is nonsense. In an attempt to prove he is right, Sunshine organises a test- he finds Boomer with a marker buoy, and tells Ten Cents to sound his hooter- Ten Cents does so, and the buoy sinks. Ten Cents has to agree that Sunshine has a point. The next day, Captain Star gives Boomer the simple task of towing a schooner out to sea, believing nothing can possibly go wrong. Ten Cents and Sunshine escort Boomer to the schooner without any mishaps, and Boomer starts off successfully. (Ten Cents is careful not to sound his hooter.) But Later, Ten Cents and Sunshine see Boomer and the burnt-out schooner being towed in by the Fire Launch. Boomer says he was struck by lightning -- though the weather has been fair. Captain Star's patience finally runs out He has Boomer sent to Lucky’s Yard, “…never to be used as a tug again, no matter what.” Some weeks later, Ten Cents and Sunshine are surprised by Captain Star’s order to fetch Boomer and take him Up River. Ten Cents tells Sunshine that “There’s a ship's graveyard there, full of rusting hulls”; They fear the worst for Boomer, but when they see him, they find he has been turned into a houseboat. The pair escort Boomer to his new mooring, where he is very happy. As Ten Cents whistles goodbye, a tree falls over, which would seem to have been caused by the jinx. But Boomer assures them the jinx is gone; if it was still there, he reasons, the tree would have collapsed on one of them. Characters *Captain Star *Ten Cents *Big Mac *O.J. *Zak *Sunshine *Boomer *Mighty Moe *Top Hat (minor cameo) *Warrior (minor cameo) *Captain Zero (non-speaking role) *Zorran (cameo) *Zebedee (cameo) *Zug (minor cameo) *Zip (minor cameo) *Scuttlebutt Pete (minor cameo) *Little Ditcher (minor cameo) *Fire Tug (non-speaking role) *Big Mickey (cameo) *Sally Seaplane (cameo) *Izzy Gomez (model cameo) *Fultan Ferry (cameo) Trivia *Pre-filmed footage from Up River is used. *First appearance of Mighty Moe since Pirate and the only appearance of Boomer (although his model makes a cameo in Up River). *First and only time we see a tug in tears. *Hercules is not featured in this episode. *Zak is the only Z-Stack to speak. *The Fire Tug has a different face in this episode which could mean that there were 2 Fire Tugs. *The scene cut to when Captain Star says that Boomer is working with the Z-Stacks is used again in the episode "Munitions". *After Captain Star tells Boomer to try his engine, we see the back of Boomer pumping water, look closely, the tug is actually Top Hat, this shot is later, again, seen in "Up River" meaning he only makes a cameo appearance. *This is the only episode that Top Hat has a cameo role. Goofs * During the collision scene at Lucky's Yard, Ten Cents' bow seems to lift out of the water. External links * Category:Episodes